"It is not unknown to many of our warriors now present that I was
deputed by the elder brothers and themselves many years since to go to
the pale-faces in Georgia to settle some old disputes about lands sold
by our people to them, and about which wicked men of both races had
caused quarrels and bloodshed. I departed on my errand, went to the
great town where their council-house stands, spoke truth, and made new
treaties with them. All this I did, and our people were pleased!"
A chorus of voices ratified the chief's statement.
"It may be remembered that I made new friends with some of the
pale-faces, and concluded treaties, founded on justice, which gave to
our people property they needed in exchange for lands which we did not
require."
Renewed signals of assent.
"To one pale-face more than to others I was under bonds of gratitude.
He did me great service when I required it, and I promised to repay him.
An Indian chief never breaks his word. I gave to that man some of the
lands left to me by my fathers. These are the lands upon which the
white settlement now stands. The pale-face I speak of was Elias Rody!"
The voices of the assembled warriors were silent. An eager look of
expectancy was all the answer Oluski received at mention of Rody's name.
The old chief continued.
"To-day Elias Rody came here and talked with me. He told me that the
hour had arrived when I could do him a great service, and again prove
myself grateful for the aid he had afforded me. I told him to speak
out. He did so. I listened. He said the colony he had founded was
prosperous, but there was one thing he still desired; and that was the
favour he came to ask. Twice before he had spoken of it. This time he
required a final answer. His demand was more than I could of myself
grant. I told him so. For this reason have I called you into council.
I will lay his wish before you. It is for you to decide."
Oluski paused to give opportunity for any one who chose to make a
remark.
None was made, but the listeners looked around them, as if trying to
read each other's thoughts.
The chief proceeded.
"What the white man wants is to buy from us this hill upon which our
habitations are built."
A chorus of angry, dissentient voices greeted the proposal.
"Hear me out," continued Oluski, "and then decide."
Silence ensued as sudden as the noisy interruption.
"The white chief offered me one hundred rifles, two hundred square
Mackinaw blankets, five kegs of gunpowder, fifteen bales of cloth and
one hundred shot belts, besides beads, knives, and small articles. For
this he desires to have possession of the hill as far as the borders of
the settlement, and the strip of land lying along the shore of the bay.
"I have told you this with no remark of my own to influence your
decision. To you, brothers, I leave it, whatever it may be Oluski will
abide by it."
Saying this, he sat down.
The young warrior who had already spoken, once more rose to his feet and
addressed himself to his chief.
"Why does Oluski ask us to decide? The land is his, not ours."
Without rising the chief replied to the question. His voice was sad and
subdued, as though he were speaking under compulsion.
"I have asked you, my sons," said he, "for good reason. Although the
land is my own, the graveyard of our ancestors, which adjoins the
property, belongs not only to the whole tribe, but to the children of
the tribe for ever!"
A silence, such as precedes a storm fell upon the assembly.
Then every voice within the council chamber was simultaneously raised in
loud protestations, and had Elias Rody seen the flashing eyes and angry
gestures, or heard the fierce invective hurled back to his proposal, he
would have hesitated to renew it.
Amidst the wild tumult Oluski sate, with head bowed upon his breast, a
feeling of sorrow in his heart.
The angry debate that succeeded did not last long; it was but the
ebullition of a common sentiment, to which the expression by one voice
was alone wanting.
It found it in the same youthful warrior who had spoken before.
The feelings of the warriors being known, he, as well as any other, good
give them voice.
"The chosen of the tribe have decided," said he, amidst perfect silence;
"I will proclaim their answer."
"Do so," Oluski said, simply raising his head.
"They despise the white chief's bribe, offered for the bones of our
ancestors. They bid me ask Oluski what answer he intends making to the
pale-face."
The old chief rose hastily to his feet, his form and eyes dilated.
Glancing proudly around the assembly, he cried out, in a clear ringing
voice.
"Oluski's answer is written here."
As he said this, he struck his spread palm upon his breast.
"When the white chief would have it, it shall be No!"
A cry of approbation from every warrior present greeted this patriotic
speech.
Hastening forward, they pressed around their chief with ejaculations of
joy.
The aged patriarch felt his blood freshly warmed within his veins--he
was young again!
In a few moments the excitement subsided, and the warriors, returning
from the council-house, moved off towards their respective dwellings.
Oluski was the last to emerge from the council chamber.
As he stepped across the threshold, the fire that animated him seemed to
have become suddenly extinguished.
His form was bent, his steps tottering and listless.
As he looked down the hill, he caught a glimpse of the white settlement,
with its window-lights twinkling through the darkness.
One, more brilliant than the rest, attracted his attention.
It was the house of Elias Rody.
"I fear," said the old chief, in a dreary voice, "my gift will prove
fatal alike to him and me. When ambition enters the heart, honour and
justice find no home therein. Our people cannot know that man in the
past; they must judge him by his present. I would be generous--the
Great Spirit knows that--but I must also be just. If I have raised
angry feelings at this council, I have nothing to charge myself with; I
did but my duty. May the white chief's heart be turned from the
covetous thoughts which fill it! Great Spirit, hear my prayer!"
With a natural and beautiful action, the aged Indian raised his hands in
supplication to that Power alike cognisant of the thoughts of white and
red.